Women’s 50m freestyle - Gretchen Walsh keeps getting faster

Might as well keep going until you stop. 21-year-old American Gretchen Walsh set her ninth world record of the World Short Course Championships, swimming 22.83 in the 50m freestyle final to lower her 22.87 from last night’s semis. Nothing has stopped her all week as she collected her fifth individual gold medal of the week here in Budapest.

Walsh set the 25th world record of the week as she won ahead of University of Virginia teammate Kate Douglass (23.05) as she moved up to fifth all-time to lower her best time.

Walsh is the first American to win this event at the World Short Course Championships since the debut in 1993.

Walsh was also named as best female swimmer of the championships at the close of the meet.

“It really works for me in short course,” Walsh said. “I'm just happy to prove to myself that I'm capable of doing stuff like this. I've just had a really great week.”

Poland’s Kasia Wasick (23.37) won bronze for her third straight medal, following up bronze in Abu Dhabi 2021 and silver in Melbourne 2022.

Great Britain’s Eva Okaro (23.66) set the world junior record in placing fourth, lowering the mark set by Anastasiya Shkurdai in December 2020 at 23.69. Okaro, age 18, finished ahead of Olympic silver medalist Meg Harris (23.73) and Italy’s Silvia di Pietro (23.85).

Sara Curtis (23.87) of Italy, and Arina Surkova (23.95) of the Neutral Athletes also swam in the championship final. 

Men’s 50m freestyle - Jordan Crooks defends gold, goes 1-2 with training partner

Jordan Crooks of the Cayman Islands followed up his two world records in the 50m freestyle with a gold medal in the final at 20.19. Crooks, age 22, successfully defended his gold medal from Melbourne 2022 as he went 1-2 with his training partner at the University of Tennessee, Guilherme Caribe of Brazil.

Caribe won silver at 20.57 over Americans Jack Alexy (20.61) and Chris Guiliano (20.78).

Crooks, Caribe and Alexy matched the podium from the 100m freestyle when Alexy won gold.

“I'm just grateful to be in that race, and it's really cool to share the podium with the same guys from the 100m,” Crooks said.

Caribe is the first Brazilian to win a medal in this event since Cesar Cielo won bronze in Doha 2014.

Crooks and Caribe are both coached by Matt Kredich at the University of Tennessee in the United States as they celebrated their big finish poolside.

Nyls Korstanje (20.79) finished fifth for the Netherlands ahead of Egor Kornev (20.81) of the Neutral Athletes. France’s Maxime Grousset (20.90) and Korea’s Ji Yuchan (20.91) also swam in the championship final.

Women’s 50m breaststroke - Ruta Meilutyte goes back to back to win fourth 50m breast title

When all is said and done, Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte may be remembered as one of the best sprint breaststrokers ever. On Sunday night in Budapest, the 27-year-old won her fourth World short course title in the 50m breaststroke, backing up her golds from Istanbul 2012, Doha 2014, and Melbourne 2022.

Meilutyte won the title in Budapest 2024 at 28.54, the fourth fastest swim of all-time.

“I was very happy to manage to control my swim,” Meilutyte said. “I was really happy to succeed in sleeping before my race, because I have had trouble sleeping this week.”

China’s Tang Qianting (28.86), the champion from the 100m, won silver ahead of American Lilly King (28.91), who matched her bronze from Melbourne 2022.

Italy’s Benedetta Pilato (29.11) finished fourth ahead of 2023 World Junior champion Eneli Jefimova (29.13) of Estonia.

Poland’s Dominika Sztandera (29.49), Alina Zmushka (29.56) of the Neutral Athletes, and Finland’s Veera Kivirinta (29.69) also swam in the championship final.

Men’s 50m breaststroke - Qin Haiyang finds the wall first once again

Qin Haiyang of the People’s Republic of China found the wall once again. In the 100m breaststroke final, he came from nowhere to touch first a win the gold, while he did the exact same thing in the 50m.

Qin, age 25, touched at 25.42, moving from fourth to first on the second 25m. It is not a best time for Qin, but enough to win China’s third gold medal of the week in Budapest.

“Today even though I didn't reach the goal that I set, I am happy and satisfied with my race,” Qin said. “After last night's race, I went to evaluate my performance and think about what I needed to work on.

“My first half isn't always as fast as it should be, and I always need to swim harder in the second half to reach the wall first. This is one of my favorite venues.I was astonished when I saw the pool for the first time. Every time we come to Budapest it's always new and professional and motivating for an athlete like myself.”

World record holder Emre Sakci (25.56) of Turkiye won his first major international medal in this event, despite holding the world record in this event for three years. Sakci tied for silver with Kirill Prigoda (25.56) of the Neutral Athletes.

Italy’s Simone Cerasuolo (25.62) finished just off the podium in fourth as he was unable to replicate his bronze from Melbourne 2022 at age 21.

Ilya Shymanovich (25.64) of the Neutral Athletes finished in fifth ahead of Italy’s Ludovico Viberti (25.71), South Africa’s Michael Houlie (25.73) and Chris Smith (25.77).

Women’s 200m backstroke - Regan Smith extinguishes McIntosh, breaks own world record

22-year-old Regan Smith of the United States successfully swept all three backstroke finals, winning the 200m on the final night of competition with a new world record at 1:58.04, taking more time off her 1:58.83 from the Singapore stop of the World Cup last month.

“Yeah, I was aiming for that world record tonight,” Smith said. “That was a very talented field, so that's something that helps me a lot and made me push very hard. If I need to pick my favourite event, I’d choose this one. I have so much history in it, so it’s great to beat the world record here, too.”

Smith set the 26th world record of the week as she beat Canada’s Summer McIntosh (1:59.96), who set the world junior record in the process.

“Honestly, going to this race my goal was to see if I can take gold in it,” McIntosh said. “I can’t be too disappointed, it’s still a good time. I wanted to go break the 1.59 barrier. It’s kind of my debut in this event, so I can’t be too upset.”

Smith was the first to beat McIntosh this week in Budapest, which isn’t too much of a surprise due to Smith’s prowess in the 200m backstroke, but McIntosh has been on fire all week and lowered Missy Franklin’s world junior record of 2:00.03 from 2011.

McIntosh was announced as the 2024 World swimmer of the year by World Aquatics for her three gold medals at the Paris Olympics in the 200m and 400m IM, and the 200m butterfly.

Smith followed up her three World Cup wins with the World Short Course title as she garnered $35,000 USD for her efforts this season in this event, alone.

Anastasiya Shkurdai (2:00.56) of the Neutral Athletes won the bronze medal for her first medal of these championships. Shkurdai held off the likes of American Phoebe Bacon (2:00.76) for the last spot on the podium.

Bacon, age 22, matched her finish from the Paris Olympics in this event.

Spain’s Carmen Weiler (2:02.26) finished fifth overall after factoring into the top three early. France’s Pauline Mahieu (2:03.21) finished sixth ahead of Australia’s Iona Anderson (2:04.60) and Milana Stepanova (2:05.06) of the Neutral Athletes.

Men’s 200m backstroke - Hubert Kos unleashes 1:45 to delight of Duna Arena

Before the championships began, Hungary’s Hubert Kos had a smile on his face when thinking about the ovation he’d receive before walking out for the 200m backstroke final in front of the Hungarian crowd.

On Sunday night, he received it. And boy did he deliver.

Kos, the Olympic champion from Paris, swam the second fastest 200m backstroke in history, racing to 1:45.65 to break the championship record, set all the way back in Dubai 2010 by Ryan Lochte (1:46.68).

“To break Ryan Lochte's championship record by over a second is something because he knew how to swim backstroke,” Kos said. “After the morning I saw my time and I thought I wanted to challenge it for sure.”

Kos unleashed a monstrous 26.09 on the last 50 meters, leaving the field in the dust as he led at every single turn, just missing Mitch Larkin’s world record by 0.02.

“I felt the crowd egging me on in the last 50. It was unbelievable, I am not going to forget it. I achieved my two biggest goals in the sport - winning at the Olympics and to win a world championship in front of Hungarian fans. The last thing left is to break a world record and I was this close, I was this close.

“I felt myself getting tired a bit mentally this past few months after the Olympics, but I was able to turn it around once I got back and saw how much I meant to swimming fans in Hungary.”

When Hungary hosted the World Championships in 2017, Katinka Hosszu was the center of attention. In 2022, it was Kristof Milak. In 2024, it was Kos, and he let the crowd sing Himnusz as loud as they could.

“It was just amazing to swim in front of the Hungarian fans and to achieve that,” Kos said. I didn't get that chance in 2022 but I wasn't really competing for anything then. Here, I just wanted to solidify myself and show them what I have been working for during the past two years.”

Italy’s Lorenzo Mora (1:48.96) won the silver medal, upgrading his bronze from Melbourne 2022 as he finished ahead of France’s Mewen Tomac (1:49.93).

Japan’s Daiki Yanagawa (1:50.28) moved from seventh at the 100m mark to fourth at the finish, as he was ahead of USA’s Jack Aikins (1:50.60) and China’s Tao Guannan (1:51.04).

This is the first time no American has made the podium in this event at the World Short Course Championships since 1999.

Dmitrii Savenko (1:51.27) of the Neutral Athletes and Jan Cejka (1:51.81) of Czechia also swam in the championship final.

Women’s 200m freestyle - Siobhan Haughey becomes first to win three in a row

Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China, became the first woman to win the 200m freestyle three times at the World Short Course Championships as she led from start to finish to win gold at 1:50.62, matching her wins from Abu Dhabi 2021 and Melbourne 2022.

Haughey also added to her three World Cup wins with a $10,000 USD bonus for her efforts this year.

“Yeah I think mentally it could have been really hard if I keep thinking about the fact that I have to defend my title and you know I own the World Record,” Haughey said. “But I really tried hard to shut all those thoughts out and just really focus on what I have to do in this race, the details, how I can execute it. And not think about the things that happened in the past and I think that really helped me and I'm so glad I did what I did today.”

It was a tough race for the 27-year-old coached by Tom Rushton, as the silver went to Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (1:51.49), who broke the Americas record in moving up to seventh all-time. This is the 15th medal for Canada this week.

American Claire Weinstein (1:51.62) won the bronze in setting a new world junior record, lowering her own mark from this morning at 1:52.51. Weinstein, age 17, followed up her fastest all-time split from the 4x200m freestyle earlier in the week to take down Bella Sims’ world junior record of 1:52.59 from 2022.

Australia’s Lani Pallister (1:52.75) finished just off the podium in fourth ahead of Great Britain’s Freya Anderson (1:52.14), who looked to be on her way to her first individual medal internationally at 150 meters.

USA’s Paige Madden (1:52.93), Australia’s Leah Neale (1:53.21) and Italy’s Sofia Morini (1:54.17) also swam in the championship final.

Men’s 200m freestyle - Luke Hobson bites off more from the world record

It was fitting that the last individual event of the 2024 World Swimming Championships (25m) saw another world record, the 27th of the championships.

21-year-old Luke Hobson (1:38.61) of the United States won the 200m freestyle final, breaking his world record he set a few days ago in leading off the 4x200m freestyle relay at 1:38.91. When Hobson broke that record, he took the last of the 2009 shiny suit records off the books in short course meters, breaking Paul Biedermann’s mark that many never thought would have a chance to go.

“After the relay I knew that was a great split and I felt it was a really good swim,” Hobson said. I thought that I could clean a few things up in the back 50 and I thought I executed those fixes that really well and I knew that would pay off dropping another three tenths off the record.

“It's really just pure excitement. I love racing and I think I worked really hard this fall and it's kinda nice to race some of the best guys in the world. It’s been a great week and I had a great time.”

Hobson left the field in the dust, as Australia’s Maximilian Giuliani (1:40.36) broke the Oceania record in winning silver. Giuliani, age 21, moved up to seventh all-time with his swim.

The bronze went the way of Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux (1:41.13) for the first Worlds medal of his career at age 24. He held off Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys (1:41.24), who came charging home in fourth as he could not get back to the podium after silver in Hangzhou 2018 and bronze in Abu Dhabi 2021.

USA’s Kieran Smith (1:41.57) finished fifth ahead of Germany’s Rafael Miroslaw (1:41.71), Finland’s Tomas Koski (1:42.47) and Japan’s Tatsuya Murasa (1:42.95).

Women’s 4x100m medley

It was an incredible way to finish the women’s program at the 2024 World Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest as the United States took four seconds off its own world record from Melbourne 2022 with the team of Regan Smith (54.02), Lilly King (1:03.02), Gretchen Walsh (52.84), and Kate Douglass (50.53) smashing the world mark at 3:44.35.

Smith led off in a world record, Walsh had the fastest split ever, and King and Douglass had the fastest splits of the entire field.

All in all, the United States won by seven seconds.

Great Britain won the silver medal at 3:47.84 thanks to a heroic anchor from Freya Anderson as the team of Abbie Wood (57.44), Angharad Evans (1:03.18), Eva Okaro (56.11), and Anderson (51.11) ran down China for the bronze at 3:47.93.

The Chinese team won its fifth medal of the championships with the team of Qian Xinan (56.88), Tang Qianting (1:03.17), Chen Luying (56.25), and Liu Shuhan (51.63) touching third.

Sweden was in the mix for a medal as well, finishing fourth overall at 3:48.35 ahead of the Neutral Athletes (3:49.35), Italy (3:50.36), Japan (3:51.13), and Hungary (3:51.65).

The quickest splits outside the top three came from Italy’s Sara Curtis (57.41), Evgeniia Chikunova (1:03.26) of the Neutral Athletes, Sweden’s Louise Hansson (54.67), and Sweden’s Sara Junevik (51.35). 

Men’s 4x100m medley - Neutral Athletes hold off Americans for world record number 30

The Neutral Athletes closed out the 2024 World Swimming Championships (25m) with a world record at 3:18.68, lowering the mark set by the Australians on their home turf in Melbourne two years ago. The team of Miron Lifintsev (49.31), Kirill Prigoda (55.15), Andrei Minakov (48.80), and Egor Kornev (45.42) swam the fastest relay ever in holding off the Americans (3:19.03) for the 30th world record of the championships, the most at a World Short Course Championships.

The United States nearly won the gold medal with the team of Shaine Casas (48.92), Michael Andrew (57.03), Dare Rose (48.55), and Jack Alexy (44.53) getting the silver.

The bronze went the way of Italy (3:19.91) with the team of Lorenzo Mora (49.53), Ludovico Viberti (56.15), Michele Busa (48.81), and Alessandro Miressi (45.42).

Poland (3:21.02) finished fourth after coming in as the top seed, while Canada (3:21.17) finished fifth ahead of Australia (3:22.03), France (3:22.53), and Japan (3:23.20).

The quickest splits outside the top three came from Poland’s Kacper Stokowski (49.10), Japan’s Taku Taniguchi (56.26), Australia’s Matthew Temple (48.60), and France’s Maxime Grousset (44.51).

Contributing: Gregory Eggert

 

Relive the action

• Day 5: Five records fall on night five: Walsh shines with two more, Crooks smashes 20 second barrier in 50m freestyle
• Day 4: Hobson, Walsh, Douglass, Smith set stunning world records on night four
• Day 3: Summer McIntosh, Gretchen Walsh break world records once again in Budapest
• Day 2: Noe Ponti opens floodgates, sets fourth 50m butterfly world record of the year in Budapest
• Day 1: Six World records fall on first night of 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m)